Upper Respiratory Disorders: Symptoms Comparison

UPPER RESPIRATORY DISORDERS: SYMPTOMS COMPARISON
	Common Cold	Influenza	COVID-19¹	Pharyngitis	Allergic Rhinitis
Sudden Symptom Onset		•
Tearing Eyes					•
Clogged Ears					º
Nasal Congestion	•		º		º
Runny Nose	•	•	º		•
Sneezing	•	•			•
Postnasal Drip	º
Cough	º	•	º		º
Sore Throat	º	•	º	•	º
Swollen lymph nodes (neck)				º
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing		•	º
Headache	º	•	º	º	º
Body ache or myalgia	º	•	º	º
Chills or rigors		•	º
Fatigue²		•	º		º
Nausea/Vomiting		•	º
Fever³	º	•	º	º
Decreased appetite	º
Flushed face		•
Dizziness		•
Skin rash				º
Itching (may be anywhere)					•
Dark circles and/or eye puffiness					º
Diarrhea			º
New loss of taste or smell⁴			º		•
Possible Complications	– Bronchitis – Ear infection – Pneumonia – Sinusitis	– Pneumonia – Encephalitis – Meningitis – Seizures	– Long COVID – Organ damage – Respiratory failure	– Ear infection – Sinusitis – Peritonsillar abscess
NOTES
Key: ARDS = Acute respiratory distress syndrome; COVID-19 = Coronavirus disease 2019 • Characteristic symptom º Possible symptom that may be present ¹ Symptoms for Covid-19 may vary depending on new COVID-19 variants and vaccination status ² Cough and fatigue associated with influenza may persist for weeks ³ Fever associated with the common cold is usually low-grade (100−102°F) and limited to children; fever associated with influenza is usually severe (102−106°F) and present in both adults and children ⁴ Only new loss of smell is associated with allergic rhinitis
REFERENCES
Common Cold. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/ency/article/000678.htm. Accessed February 29, 2024. Flu. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/ency/article/000080.htm. Accessed February 29, 2024. Pharyngitis. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/ency/article/000655.htm. Accessed February 29, 2024.. Allergic Rhinitis. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/ency/article/000813.htm. Accessed February 29, 2024. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007768.htm. Accessed March 11, 2024. COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. Accessed March 11, 2024. (Rev. 3/2024)

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